


The Rise

by Vivien



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:46:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22974991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vivien/pseuds/Vivien
Summary: An alternate version of what could have happened when the last biological Skywalker rises from the abyss.
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12
Collections: Purimgifts 2020





	The Rise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Elsin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elsin/gifts).



> Happy Purim! I was delighted to write this for you, and I hope you like it. It's how I wish things would have happened and it's influenced by sneak peeks of dialogue from the official novelization of The Rise of Skywalker and four years worth of fanon.

It was cold at the bottom of the abyss.

That was a good thing, Ben Solo thought as his eyelids opened, taking in nothing but blackness. The cold dulled the pain. And the pain was… all over. Within and without, and, oh, how he hurt.

Rey.

He had to help Rey.

He could feel her through the Force, her adrenaline spiking through her fear, the determination of his tenacious other half spurring him on. His leg screamed in pain when he shifted his body, and he accepted it, as he once had absorbed the misery of Snoke’s many hurtful lessons. As he began crawling, he thanked the Force that he had at the very least one thing to show for his years of dark betrayal – he could use pain to fuel his rise from the pit. He had to do this. For her. For everyone he’d lost and failed.  
Ben focused on the bright light that was Rey and gripped the stones of the cliff heaving himself up and up. He whimpered with each movement, but no one was there to hear.

Or so he thought.

In the haze of determination and pain, he felt rippling within the Force that surrounded him. It was as if there were presences swirling around him as his muscles strained and he climbed.

“I’m so proud of you,” whispered a woman’s voice that he didn’t know. Her words were full of love, though, and they spurred him on.

Other unfamiliar voices chimed in as he inched his way upwards.

“The Force is with you, Ben Solo.”

“We’ve watched and hoped so long.”

“Luminous beings are we.”

"She needs you now more than ever, Ben."

"We can stand behind you once more."

The encouragement moved him higher. He risked a glance above him and saw the lip of the cliff was closer than he thought it would ever be.  
That’s when he felt torn in half.

Rey. He’d lost her. His other half in the dyad, the point of his worthless existence…

He faltered, moaning in pain both physical and mental.

Then he heard his parents’ voices.

“I love you, my strong, beautiful boy.”

“You can do this, kid. Get to her.”

And another voice, a man’s that he’d never heard but knew at once said, “You will finish what I could never start. Ben, you are our only hope.”

He squeezed his eyes shut and called on the Force to aid him a little longer. With a feral grunt, he pushed himself up and over and staggered to the still body in white.

* * *

  
There was darkness, but it was not cold. It wasn’t warm. It just was. Rey floated, and there was nothing. Nothing she could do, nothing she could say. She was nothing. She had always been nothing. She would always be nothing. But she was one with the Force. Nothing hurt. It was peace like she’d never known.

A jolt shivered through her. It was warmth and life and all things good. It pulled her back, away from the nothingness, and she was herself again, cradled in muscular arms, breathing cool air. She shivered as she placed her hand upon the large hand splayed over her belly.

“Ben,” she said, her smile lighting up her face.

She felt whole, like she’d finally come home to the place she’d been seeking all her life. As she cupped his face, she watched with astonishment as he stared at her like she was everything that was right and good in the entire galaxy. She leaned forward, pressing her forehead to his.

“We’re going to be okay. We’re home,” she murmured, and then her arms went around his neck, pulling him close. He responded in kind, wrapping her in his arms. She was warm and content, and while it wasn’t the peacefulness of being one with the Force, this embrace was all she had ever wanted.

They pulled back, and he smiled, joy emanating from him. She could feel his exhaustion and exhilaration, and under that, the massive pain that gripped his entire body. It enveloped him in a sudden wave, overcoming him. When he passed out, lying back, she clamored to protect his head from hitting the ground.

His breaths steadied as unconsciousness pulled him under. Rey pressed her hand to his chest, feeling it rise and fall, the beat of his heartbeat under her palm. She curled up beside him, lending him her heat.

She had no idea what would happen next, but they would be together when it did.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this alternative ending for Ben and Rey. I've been a Reylo shipper since 2016, but they needed WAY more time to ease into the whole dyad in the Force/soulmates thing than what was allowed to them in the movie. This was a lovely challenge to keep them in a more platonic space... but since it usually takes several chapters of fic for them to be friends, much less lovers, it's a story line I'm used to reading and writing. Day 2 will be a continuation of this fic.


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